The serial verb construction (SVC) in Edo (Bini), a language spoken in Nigeria, is examined, and an analysis that systematically characterizes the notion of functional relationship of verbs within these constructions is proposed. It is argued that the verbs in series are sensitive to different semantic and grammatical phenomena and are therefore functionally asymmetrical. Given this, it is shown that the relevant structure for the SVC is one that contains the verb phrase shell hypothesis and also has a functional category Aspect. Under this proposal, the first verb has semantic content in the "cause/process/precedent" relationship and the second in the "state/result/consequence" relationship. Both verb phrases are shown to constitute sub-events in the complex event-structure of the serial verb construction. (MSE)

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